1. Field of the Invention
The present invention refers to a retractable hard top for motor vehicles and to motor vehicles that are provided with a hard top of that kind.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Motor vehicles in the form of convertibles enjoy an increasing popularity, wherein they are permanently confronted with the question of all-weather suitability. Regarding the suitability of non-seasonal vehicles, considerably higher quality demands are made on the roof structure, in particular in a way that retractable vehicle roofs in closed condition shall basically have the quality of a roof of a sedan.
Besides the demands on the corresponding tightness of such retractable roofs, a traffic security in the rear optic is also demanded, which leads to the fact that the rear window of the motor vehicle is no longer formed of plastic but of glass, and may comprise useful additional features such as heating wires.
The rigid and usually rearwardly curved glass pane requires a lot of space for the roof to be lowered when lowering the rear roof section, which leads to problems in mounting other parts of the motor vehicle, in particular the fuel tank. This applies even more since convertibles or roadsters which are usually two-seat vehicles shall usually have an especially small and compact design.
Thus, the object of the present invention is to provide a retractable hard top for motor vehicles, which comprises an especially space-saving construction in the lowered condition.
According to the present invention, a retractable hard top for motor vehicles is provided, comprising:
A first substantially rigid upper roof section, which forms an essentially horizontal upper roof portion of the motor vehicle,
a second substantially rigid rear roof section which is connected to the first roof section via a first rod assembly and which is hingedly connected to the motor vehicle and which forms a substantially vertically or obliquely extending rear roof portion, and
a rigid rear window, which is pivotally connected to the second roof section and which is commonly movable with same, wherein when pivoting the second roof section into a retractable position of the motor vehicle, the rear window is pivoted into the interior of the second roof section.
Thereby it is achieved that the space for the lowered hard top can be significantly reduced, whereby the space requirement of the retractable hard top can be significantly reduced and the components of the motor vehicle, such as the fuel tank, can be dimensioned sufficiently large. Moreover, the advantage results that due to the reduced space requirement of the hard top a correspondingly more rigid construction of the motor vehicle becomes possible and additional significant reinforcement measures can be renounced, which makes the total construction of the motor vehicle definitely more inexpensive.
The retractable hard top according to the invention comprises a series of further great advantages, that will now be described.
By the fact that the rear window is connected in its lower portion in the area of the longitudinal side of the vehicle with one rod each, wherein each of the two rods is hingedly connected in a hinge point with two connection rods, one of which being connected to the vehicle, the other one of which being hingedly connected to the second rear roof section, it is achieved that a positive guide of the rear window when retracting or extracting the retractable hard top is provided. The design has a very simple structure and it is very functional and offers a safe operation over a long period of time, wherein additional components such as accessory motor drives can be avoided.
As usual, the retractable hard top according to the invention comprises an axially symmetrical structure regarding the longitudinal axis of the motor vehicle. The arrangement of the rod assembly is carried out at the longitudinal side portions and is made symmetrical with respect to the longitudinal axis of the motor vehicle.
Advantageously the connection rod assembly of the first and second roof section comprises for each longitudinal side of the motor vehicle an essentially straight and an essentially curved or bent, hingedly arranged connection rod. By means of the total of four connection rods, two for each side of the vehicle, an especially simple mechanism for folding or extracting the upper first roof section with respect to the second rear roof section is provided.
Furthermore, the curved connection rods are hingedly connected to the second rod assembly, whereby advantageously a positively guided pivot movement of the rear second roof section along with the upper first roof section is enabled.
Furthermore, the first upper roof section comprises a slot in the area of the longitudinal side of the motor vehicle through which the straight and curved or bent connection rods move when pivoting the upper roof section. Thereby the possibility of pivoting the upper roof section and accommodation into the rear roof section is enabled in a simple manner.
Advantageously, the retractable hard top according to the invention comprises a flexible outer cover, e.g. made of a textile tissue, such as a cloth, which is connected to the first front roof section in its front portion and to the second roof section. This in particular also has the advantage that the first and second roof sections can be made of a plastic member, in which special surface treatments, in particular a coat of lacquer, are not required. Thus, the entire hard top can be formed in an inexpensive manner.
The present invention also refers to a motor vehicle, in particular a convertible. Such a motor vehicle comprises an accommodation chamber for a roof cover that can be stored therein. According to the invention, the roof cover comprises a retractable hard top which comprises features as described above.
The hard top accommodation space further advantageously comprises a bottom section which is arranged pivotally around a pivot axis extending substantially transversely and horizontally with respect to the longitudinal extension of the motor vehicle. Thereby it is enabled that when the roof is closed, the bottom section can be pivoted upwardly which significantly increases the trunk volume.